Adventures in Land Development

About this episode

James Gaskin interviews John Curry about land acquisition and development lending, exploring its complexities and challenges.

In this episode of Hustle Harder , James sits down with John Curry, Co-Founder and CEO of Sétanta Development Capital, to break down the misunderstood world of land acquisition and development (A&D) lending. John shares his journey from Irish lawyer to U.S. real estate investor, explains why land earned its “toxic” reputation after the GFC, and walks through how modern land development actually works. The conversation covers risk, entitlement challenges, public builders going land-light, private credit replacing banks, and why land remains a critical “widget” in solving the housing shortage. Key Points from This Episode 00:00 – Welcome to the Hustle Harder Show and introduction of guest John Curry 01:09 – John’s background, move from Ireland, and entry into A&D investing 02:39 – Founding Sétanta and closing the firm’s first loan 03:04 – The origin and meaning of the name Sétanta 05:22 – What Sétanta does and how land lending differs from construction lending 07:34 – How land development works from raw land to buildable lots 10:48 – Why builders stopped self-developing land post-GFC 12:51 – Public markets, land-light strategies, and risk perception 14:32 – Why land became…

People in this episode

Host: James Gaskin

Guest: John Curry

Topics covered

• land development
• real estate investing
• A&D lending
• housing shortage
• risk management

Keywords

• land acquisition
• development lending
• real estate
• housing shortage
• risk perception
• Sétanta Development Capital
• GFC
• public builders
• private credit

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Sétanta Development Capital

Places: Ireland, U.S., COVID

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